AFRICANEWS

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West Africa

Agreement on this was signed in the Nigerian capital, Abuja, which is the community's headquarters. The unit will concern itself with child victims of abuse and neglect during and after armed conflicts and will establish a network of organizations that care for war-affected children, ECOWAS said.

The Canadian High Commissioner to Nigeria, Ian Ferguson, said his country's involvement in the programme was an acknowledgement of a shared duty to protect children from the impact of war and conflict. In wars during the past decade, he said, two million children had died, four million disabled and 10 million traumatised.

Nigeria

In a statement released at the end of their national conference, the bishops pointed to the continued high crime rate, fuel shortages as proof of the government's other failings.

They also condemned the strict application of Sharia law in some northern states, describing the measure as "irresponsible and unacceptable". Bauchi State will on 31 March join nine other Northern states in implementing Sharia.

Application of Sharia is a highly emotive issue in Nigeria. Last year the proposed introduction of Islamic law in Kaduna State, equally divided between Christians and Muslims, led to fighting in which at least 1,000 died.

Rwanda

Zimbabwe

Reverend Adrianatos officiated at the funeral on Friday of Mr Olds' mother, who was shot dead at the same farm as her son. During an hour-long sermon, he accused government and political leaders of encouraging violence against white farmers. Last week, his work permit was cancelled and he was told to leave Zimbabwe by 4 March.

Mrs Olds was the eighth member of Zimbabwe's white farming community to be killed since ruling party militants and veterans of the country's independence war began a violent campaign to seize white-owned farms last year with the backing of Mugabe and his government. Reverend Andrianatos called the murderers of the 72-year-old widow "scum and cowards". "It's a sad day when leaders tolerate and in some cases encourage lawlessness," he told the congregation.

Meanwhile Journalists in Zimbabwe would be required to produce professional qualifications before being issued with press cards under proposed accreditation regulations, the state-run 'Herald' newspaper reported on 5 March. The Minister of State for Information and Publicity Jonathan Moyo, said the requirement was one of the proposals under consideration as the government reviews accreditation regulations.

He said the proposed Freedom of Information Bill, to be presented to parliament soon, would form the basis of the new accreditation rules. "We have existing accreditation regulations whose implementation had been relaxed if not corrupted and we are now reviewing them in the context of the forthcoming Freedom of Information Bill and fully implement them," said Moyo.

The government would consult unions that represent journalists on the proposals but not activist organisations that "make noise on behalf of political parties". Moyo singled out the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) as one such organisation. Last month the government expelled two foreign journalists, the BBC's Joseph Winter and Mercedes Sayagues a Uruguayan, who writes for the South African 'Mail & Guardian'. (Source: IRIN)

Lesotho

The final voters' list is expected to be completed by the end of January 2002. Thoahlane said at least five months were needed before the registration period to allow for a voter education campaign and to ensure that all the necessary equipment, voter manuals and training materials were in place. Computer hard and software also needed to be upgraded and staff had to be trained, he added.

The elections follow the aborted 1998 general elections which gave the ruling Lesotho Congress for Democracy (LCD) 79 seats in an 80-seat legislature and led to nationwide riots. South Africa sent in its army to restore peace. Disgruntled opposition parties formed the Interim Political Authority (IPA) to prepare for the new elections. The then IEC was dismissed from office and the present five-member commission was established.

Angola-DR Congo

A joint UNHCR-WFP assessment team last week located 2,000 Angolans around the Congolese border town of Kimvula in Bas-Congo who had fled insecurity in Uige province. Because of poor road conditions the mission was unable to verify the presence of an estimated 1,800 refugees at Popokabaka further to the east, and several thousand more reported in the town of Kasongo-Lunda. The team found six refugees with gunshot wounds in Kimvula hospital as a result of clashes across the border. (Source: IRIN)

A UNHCR official in Kinshasa told IRIN that those interviewed by the assessment team said they were not prepared to return until three conditions were met: an end to fighting in Uige, the deployment of the Angolan army on rural roads to enable free movement, and a security guarantee and invitation to return by the authorities in Luanda.

Meanwhile, rather than constructing new refugee camps, in the short term UNHCR and other UN agencies intend to help the new arrivals within the villages they have settled, where they frequently have family and trade links. Humanitarian assistance will target both the refugees and the resident population. "The refugees are hosted by the local population. We cannot have an approach that focuses just on the refugees," the UNHCR official said. But the refugee agency is also considering moving the new arrivals away from the border. (Source: IRIN, 12)

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